Properties Magazine March 2017 : Page 10

January Construction Starts Jump 12% Nationally Provided by Dodge Data & Analytics T he value of new construction starts in January climbed 12% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $690.2 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. After losing momentum during last year’s fourth quarter, nonresidential building strengthened in January, with much of the lift coming from the start of the $3.4 billion Central Terminal Building at LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York as well as groundbreaking for several other large airport terminal projects. Meanwhile, residential building edged upward in January as the result of a slight gain for single-family housing. For the full year 2016, the Dodge Index averaged 144. “The 12% gain for total construc-tion starts in January gets 2017 off to a healthy beginning, following the declines What’s noteworthy about January’s rebound is that the institutional side of the nonresidential building market, led by airport terminal work, has assumed a more substantial role in keeping the expansion going, Murray explains. “The institutional side of nonresidential building has typi-cally lagged the pattern shown by commercial building, and its continued growth is needed for overall nonresidential building to advance further in 2017,” he says. “While commercial building is also expected to see growth in Robert A. Murray 2017, its rate of increase will be Dodge Data & Analytics restrained as vacancy rates level off and banks in the near term reported toward the end of 2016,” says maintain a cautious stance towards com-Robert A. Murray, chief economist for mercial real estate loans pending any changes to the Dodd-Frank regulations. Dodge Data & Analytics. The public works sector is also anticipated to strengthen in 2017, with help coming from more pipeline work, although Congress needs to finalize fiscal 2017 appropriations which at the moment are set at essentially status quo levels under a continuing resolution that expires at the end of April. The proposal for greater infrastructure spending by the Trump Administration, assuming it gets passed in some form by Congress during this year’s first half, may not have a discern-ible impact on public works construction starts until the end of 2017 and into 2018.” On an unadjusted basis, total con-struction starts in January were reported at $48.5 billion, down 3% from the same month a year ago which included especially strong amounts for the often volatile manufacturing plant and electric utility/gas plant cat-egories. If manufacturing plants and electric utilities/gas plants are excluded, total construction starts in January would be up 10% from last year’s correspond-ing volume. The January statistics raised the Dodge Index to 146 (2000=100), compared to 130 in December. The Dodge Index reached its 2016 peak in August at 156, and held close to that level in September at 153. The next three months showed the Dodge Index retreating 5% to 6% each month, culminating in December’s 130. “The proposal for greater infrastructure spending by the Trump Administration, assuming it gets passed in some form by Congress during this year’s first half, may not have a discernible impact on public works construction starts until the end of 2017 and into 2018.” Nonresidential building General Contractors Construction Managers Design/Build 440-998-0609 | www.jcibuilds.com | Ashtabula, OH 10 Nonresidential building in January climbed 16% to $261.5 billion (annual rate), following lackluster activity in December. The inclusion of the $3.4 bil-lion Central Terminal Building project at LaGuardia Airport as a January start provided much of the upward push, sup-porting a 37% gain for the institutional Properties | March 2017